Investigating the Gap

At one station, LIRR still hasn't closed gap

Stepping over the gap is still a risky move at the Long Island Rail Road's Syosset station.

LIRR passenger risk higher than other area rail lines

Passengers on the Long Island Rail Road run a higher risk of injury than those on other rail divisions in the metropolitan area -- Metro-North, NJ Transit and the New York City subways -- accident data for each of the lines show.

Litany of gap claims filed against LIRR

Lawsuits against the Long Island Rail Road stemming from falls into the gap date back more than 35 years, with plaintiffs claiming injuries as severe as torn ligaments, fractured bones, paralysis and dismemberment.

Critics: Report blames victim

In just four pages, the state Public Transportation Safety Board concluded that Natalie Smead became the Long Island Rail Road's first gap-related fatality because she put herself in the path of an oncoming train and because she was drunk.

Now, a political platform

State lawmakers say they will convene public hearings on the Long Island Rail Road's plans to fix wide platform gaps, as the new MTA chief admitted the hazard had been ignored for too long.

LIRR sees bigger problem, will fix 100 platforms

An estimated 38 percent of the Long Island Rail Road's platforms have problem gaps, and they will be reduced by the spring of 2008, railroad officials revealed Thursday.

Investigating the gap

Thirty years of neglect

The Long Island Rail Road knew for more than three decades that the gap between trains and platforms posed a serious threat to passengers, injuring hundreds of riders in terrifying falls.

Riders are split over the blame

Eric Bell wants to know why it took decades for the Long Island Rail Road to do something about the gaps between trains and platforms that led to hundreds of falls.

Fix-it solutions offered

When the Long Island Rail Road's gap problems were highlighted last summer, a retired civil engineer from Kings Park started thinking about a solution.

Investigating the gap: Delayed Measures

Victims ask why recent fixes weren't done sooner

The Long Island Rail Road in recent months has realigned tracks, shifted platforms and tacked wooden boards to platform edges -- all in a concentrated effort to shrink the dangerous spaces between trains and platforms.

INVESTIGATING THE GAP

How the gap problem all started

The gap problem now facing the Long Island Rail Road was set in motion more than 150 years ago, as the fledgling railroad pushed east from Jamaica, building stations on donated land.

Three falls in Syosset within 90 minutes

Any other day, Lori Wright might have just waited. But on the morning of Jan. 30, 1996, Wright had a business meeting in Manhattan and her westbound LIRR train had been stuck going on 15 minutes at Syosset station without explanation.

Lack of oversight led to gap problem

The LIRR's parent agency knew that education wasn't enough.

Warnings ignored

The MTA inspector general released a report in 1987 titled, "An Investigation of Gaps Between Platforms and Trains At Metro-North Stations."

LIRR statement about the gap issue

The following is the Long Island Rail Road's statement about the gap issue:

Pinpointing the problems

Four-year-old Brittany Walker fell completely through a gap at a Long Island Rail Road station. Robert M. Garren, 38, of Flushing, fell up to his hip, and Patricia Freeman, 64, of Manhattan, fell up to her elbows.